As politicians, councillors and MPs can sometimes lose sight of why they do the work they do. The work politicians do is for the residents that they serve.

This service aspect of politics can sometimes get lost. It is politicians who serve people, not people who serve politicians.

There have been many times over the last few years where politicians have lost sight of this and have also lost sight of residents' very heartfelt and genuine concerns.

No clearer can this be seen than in the planned destruction of the green belt in Trafford borough.

The green belt is an issue that residents feel passionately about, and many of these residents have written to me to express their concern.

It is right to be concerned about the provision of housing, but this should not, and need not, come at the cost of the protection of our very important and few green spaces in Trafford.

The Conservative Party believe strongly in the importance of the protection of the green belt.

Both our former parliamentary candidate, Oliver Carroll, and former mayoral candidate, Laura Evans worked tirelessly to address the protection of the green belt and continue to do so in their own ways in a private capacity.

Trafford Conservatives have consistently raised concerns around the green belt to Trafford Council, the Greater Manchester Mayoral Team, Parliament, and the electorate in Altrincham and Sale West, Trafford, and Greater Manchester.

Regrettably, despite these efforts, opposition to building on the green belt has been overridden by the electorate’s choice of a Labour Council, Mayor, MP and Government.

Many issues factored in to recent electoral losses for the Conservative Party, however, if anyone believes that Labour won because residents and constituents want to see the green belt in our country decimated, then that belief is quite mistaken.

The letters Conservative councillors in Trafford receive from residents objecting to new developments on both the Timperley Wedge and on Carrington Moss make this clear.

In 2018, Trafford Council had a chance to withdraw from Labour’s Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF), but the Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party in Trafford did not back our proposal to withdraw from the GMSF.

Stockport Council, on the other hand, did withdraw from the GMSF and not, it should be noted, at the expense of housing development.

New developments in Stockport continue to be built for young residents in the area, a commutable distance from Manchester City Centre, resulting in continued economic growth in Stockport, but not at the expense of the green belt.

Ever since Trafford refused to withdraw from the GMSF, which has since been renamed Places for Everyone, the opportunities to object to building on the green belt have become fewer and fewer.

Moving forward, it is crucial that, with residents' support, we ensure that essential services like schools, health centres, and infrastructure are adequately addressed to prevent unchecked overdevelopment under Labour's leadership.

Responses to public consultation should revolve around what residents would like to see in the places they call home.

Sadly, the council, developers, the new government, and I suspect our new Altrincham and Sale West MP, are now not interested in the wider views of the residents and constituents whom they serve.

Nathan Evans is the leader of Trafford Conservatives.